One of the many clubs at Apopka High School is the Dungeons & Dragons club, or D&D for short. D&D is a multi-player tabletop and sometimes online game which utilizes multiple dice, the most common being a 20 sided dice. In D&D, there is typically one Dungeon Master, or DM, and a number of players. The DM creates an imaginative storyline that the rest of the players design characters to play in. Characters advance through the plot of a campaign by rolling the dice, which determines the outcomes of their character’s actions. For example, a DM may describe a rushing river which has a log over it. In their head, the DM will think of a minimum number required to pass, which depends on the difficulty of the situation. If a player rolls a number below the DM’s mental number, the DM might portray them falling off the log.
When designing a character, there are many aspects to consider. Things like your character’s race, which can range from things like a dwarf to a dragon-born, and class can all affect your character. You see the impacts these choices have on your character’s stats: being a rogue might increase your dexterity, but being a gnome would increase your intelligence. Creating characters requires an abundance of imagination. There are so many things that all add up to create a cohesive character. The race, class, sub-class, and background are all key elements of a D&D character. One of the D&D club members described their character to The Blue and White. Their character is a 3’5” cat who wears a clown costume named Carlos. Although he is a necromancer (someone with the ability to raise the dead), he often forgets about his abilities. Some characters are designed with practicality in mind, while others are created to make the campaign more enjoyable for the player.
Many of the current D&D club members joined because their friends were already in it, or with the intention of making new friends. Ethan Cooke, a senior, mentions how his friends persuaded him into joining the club. Another member, Senior Alec Canfield, said that he already knew how to play. Alec has been playing D&D his whole life, which he attributes to his dad playing the game in the ‘90s. Although there are experienced members in D&D club, there are also many new players. Junior Sam Sauter said he’s only been playing D&D for a couple of months. Sam is currently DMing for the first time. They weighed the pros and cons of being a DM, saying “It was fun to come up with the stories and the background for people.” Alternatively, he says it’s fun to be a player because you can play as “someone silly or be someone serious.” Mateo Ramos, a senior, echoed this, “I like being a player more because it’s a lot more freedom you can have and a lot more things you can do.”
During their interviews, multiple members touched on how important freedom is to D&D. Mateo described how “D&D is all about freedom, so the only limits are your imagination.” The club’s sponsor, Ms. McDonald, says she lets the players kind of do their own thing. “D&D is all about creating your own adventure.” Playing D&D really lets you do whatever you can imagine. Mateo described a very out of the box D&D experience: “We were up against bald men who wanted to make us bald like them. One cut off a lock of my hair so I got mad and decided to smite him with my hand on his bald forehead.”
Dungeons & Dragons, while characterized as a nerdy game, is a fantasy game that can be light-hearted and fun, or intense and roleplay-focused. D&D allows you to create a character and fabricate a personalized backstory. For people who want to join, D&D club is every Thursday until 4:00 pm in Ms. McDonald’s room, 509. D&D is a very social game and many different people have found a community in D&D groups.
